Time For an E-Cigarette Break

I don't smoke, readers.

"Electronic cigarettes attracting ‘smokers’; But FDA says product should be regulated" by Michael Felberbaum, Associated Press | September 2, 2010

RICHMOND — Electronic cigarettes look like the real thing and give him his nicotine fix but do not contain tobacco....

As they become more popular, the battery-powered cigarettes have become the center of a fight over how risky they are compared with traditional smokes, whether they are legal and, if they are, how they should be regulated.

If there is a fight or conflict in the world the MSM will find it -- and if not, they will make one.

E-cigarettes are made of plastic and metal and heat a liquid nicotine solution in a disposable cartridge, creating vapor that the smoker inhales. A tiny light on the tip even glows like a real cigarette....

The Food and Drug Administration and public health groups have sounded the alarm, saying they contain dangerous chemicals and are being marketed to children, and the federal agency has halted shipments of e-cigarettes at ports nationwide.

The FDA, huh?

Related: Slow Saturday Special: FDA's Gulf Coast Feast

FDA Protects Big Pharma While Telling Americans "F*** You!"

FDA Approval to Immunize Drug Companies From Lawsuits

So the FDA is really just ANOTHER LYING, AGENDA-PUSHING OUTFIT of GOVERNMENT, huh?

Some sellers of e-cigarettes sued the FDA last year after the agency instructed customs officials to refuse entry of shipments into the United States. A federal judge ruled that the FDA cannot stop those shipments, saying the agency had overstepped its authority. The FDA appealed and won a stay of that ruling, pending oral arguments that are set to begin next month.

Look at them!

SO CONCERNED over a LEGAL PRODUCT as our FOOD CHAIN is totally insecure and the POLLUTION SICKENS us all!

Btw, whatever happened to MY FREEDOM to DECIDE FOR MYSELF if I want a smoke?

The FDA claims it has the authority to regulate e-cigarettes as drug-delivery devices, which would require proving — probably through expensive clinical trials — that they are safe and effective as a stop-smoking aid.

E-cigarette sellers would like to see them regulated as a tobacco product, following the same restrictions as traditional cigarettes and tobacco products.

Several states have tried to ban the sale of the products.

Users and distributors say e-cigarettes address both the nicotine addiction and the behavioral aspects of smoking — the holding of the cigarette, the puffing, seeing the smoke come out, and the hand motion — without the more than 4,000 chemicals found in a traditional cigarette.

“When you’re talking about a product that’s essentially Russian roulette, and the alternative is much, much better, you can imagine they’re pretty happy,’’ said Jason Healy, the president of electronic cigarette maker Blu Cigs in Charlotte, N.C. “Up until e-cigs, there was quit or die.’’

First marketed worldwide in 2002 as an alternative to regular cigarettes, e-cigarettes did not become easily available in the United States until late 2006. Now, the industry has grown from the thousands in 2006 to several million worldwide, with an estimated 20,000 to 30,000 new e-smokers every week, according to Healy.

A starter kit, including flavor cartridges, costs about $60. Additional cartridges, equivalent to about 150 cigarettes, are about $25. The cartridges include flavor and different levels of nicotine, or no nicotine at all.

Still, the FDA has said its tests found the liquid in electronic cigarettes contains substances known to be toxic to humans — besides nicotine, which is itself toxic in large doses — as well as carcinogens that occur naturally in the tobacco in cigarettes.

As if the FDA actually gave a shit!!!!!

But the level of those carcinogens was comparable to those found in nicotine replacement therapy like gum and patches, because the nicotine in all of the products is extracted from tobacco, said Dr. Michael Siegel, a professor at the Boston University School of Public Health.

In other word, the FDA is full of s***!!

--more--"

Cough, cough, cough, cough!!!

That's what happens when you don't (wheeze) smoke, cough, cough!!

You know, the cigarette tasted just like my newspaper.

No Fair in Michigan

Literally and figuratively:

"Michigan cancels its annual fair; Struggling state can’t afford to subsidize event" by Corey Williams, Associated Press | September 2, 2010

DETROIT — Governor Jennifer Granholm canceled the Michigan State Fair, saying debt-ridden Michigan could no longer afford to subsidize it....

Related:

"Michigan, reeling under cataclysmic job losses and massive budget shortfalls, has played hard to trump the field, laying out $125 million in 2008, $223 million in 2009."

All for PROFITABLE Hollywood!

Game Report: Mass. Loses to Michigan

Also see: Michigan Subsidies Fail

Oh, she has PLENTY of TAXPAYER MONEY for CORPORATE HANDOUTS though!!

The Michigan State Fair had been a state tradition for 160 years....

I think it is time to GET RID of TRADITIONS, don't you?

You know, like the TRADITIONS of WARS and LOOTING!!

Like those in other states, the Michigan fair had its roots in agrarian fairs in Europe, where farmers met to discuss farming techniques and equipment. As waves of immigrants came to the United States, they influenced the fairs, which added ethnic foods and other attractions....

But part of the problem also seems to have been the fair’s inability to successfully marry its agrarian roots with money-making entertainment as other state fairs have done....

Yeah just IGNORE the TAX LOOT being STOLEN and BLAME YOURSELVES!

That seems to be the MSM ATTITUDE and I AM TIRED OF IT!!

The 11-day Iowa State Fair drew about 970,000 this year. Along with typical fair fare, including livestock judging, a cow sculpted from butter, and chicken- and husband-calling contests, it had a musical lineup led by country music star Keith Urban and pop singer Sheryl Crow.

In contrast, the Michigan fair’s top entertainers last year were the aging rockers in Starship and Survivor, along with Billy Squier....

I wouldn't want to go to either one. Not to see those performers.

In Michigan, agriculture remains the number two industry behind manufacturing, and the state is among the nation’s leaders in production of sugar beets, cherries, apples, corn, and other produce. Smaller fairs continue to celebrate that heritage, and at least one appears to have benefited from the state fair’s closing.

Why leave it there then, MSM?

Besides, things can't be too bad if OTHERS are BENEFITING.

Makes you wonder WHAT is behind the PoS FILLER article, doesn't it?

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Discovering a Global Warming Nut

He will really help your case, fart-misters:

"Gunman dies in hostage standoff; Held 3 to protest Discovery Channel" by Sarah Brumfield, Associated Press | September 2, 2010

SILVER SPRING, Md. — A man who had railed against the Discovery Channel’s environmental programming for years burst into the company’s headquarters with at least one explosive device strapped to his body yesterday and took three people hostage at gunpoint before police shot him to death, officials said....

See: Discovery building gunman "awakened" by Al Gore

Thanks, Al. Thanks a lot.

James J. Lee was convicted of disorderly conduct for a protest he organized outside Discovery’s offices in February 2008. According to police reports, he paid homeless people to carry signs, and set off a scramble for money when he threw fistfuls of cash into the air....

“The Discovery Channel produces many so-called ‘Environmental Programs’ supposedly there to save the planet,’’ Lee said in an ad he took out in a Washington newspaper to promote the protest. “But the truth is things are getting WORSE! Their programs are causing more harm than good.’’

A lengthy posting on a website registered to Lee said Discovery and its affiliates should stop “encouraging the birth of any more parasitic human infants,’’ a possible reference to shows like “Kate Plus 8’’ and “19 Kids and Counting.’’ Instead, he said, the network should air “programs encouraging human sterilization and infertility.’’

Which just makes me even more pro-life!

Also see: Environmental activism can lead to madness

Oh, he thought the SAME WAY as the GOVERNMENT, huh?

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Related: Meltdown of the climate 'consensus'

If this keeps up, no one's going to trust any scientists....

I ALREADY DO NOT if they WORK for the GOVERNMENT or receive GOVERNMENT GRANTS!!

Also see: Low temperatures tie records at LAX, Oceanside

Scientists Forced To Revise Arctic Sea Ice Projections Upwards

Media warming to public's disbelief

Someone better TELL the BOSTON GLOBE!!!!!!!!

Toasting the Troops

I'm tired of the MSM being an advertisement for alcohol -- as it decries teen drinking, blah, blah, blah.

"Cheers! Drinking linked to longer life; Study confirms a few can help" by David Olmos, Bloomberg News | September 1, 2010

SAN FRANCISCO — Sipping two or three glasses of wine, beer, or cocktails per day helped older adults live longer than teetotalers in a study that confirmed the health benefits of moderate drinking....

Of course, if it MODERATE SMOKING that's WRONG!

Related: Study: Smoking Pot Doesn't Cause Cancer -- It May Prevent It!

So the GOVERNMENT wants you to GET CANCER, huh?

The research was funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and the Department of Veterans Affairs.

More DEFENSE DEPARTMENT DOLLARS WASTED, taxpayers!!

WTF is the VA doing FUNDING HEALTH RESEARCH, huh?

Because the LYING WARS have driven them to DRINK?

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Related: Visiting the VA

Rough Times for Raytheon

Oh, I feel SO SORRY for them!!

I hope they are going to be all right.

"Cancellation hurts Raytheon’s results

Raytheon Co., the world’s largest missile maker, said second-quarter profit dropped on costs related to a contract canceled by the British government.

Net income fell to $208 million....

So HOW DID YOU DO last quarter, American?

Second-quarter sales declined to $5.97 billion.

Yeah, that is BILLION with a B!

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Poor, poor Raytheon, huh?

"Raytheon’s mixed news shows the budget risks companies face as the US combat mission in Iraq changes to an advise-and-assist role, said Loren Thompson, a defense analyst for the Lexington Institute in Arlington, Va.

“When wars end, demand for munitions plummets,’’ he said. “Even companies that win competitions have to wonder about the profitability.’’

Yeah, what a BUMMER the WARS are ENDING (yeah, right, but hey, what is ONE MORE LIE in a newspaper full of them every day, day after day?)!

--more--"

Don't worry, Americans; Raytheon will be all right:

"Focus on training helps Raytheon sidestep cuts; Sales up 11% this year despite slower defense spending" by Gopal Ratnam, Bloomberg News | August 6, 2010

Raytheon Co., the world’s biggest missile maker, is girding for slower growth in the US weapons budget by training soldiers with technology from the movie “Avatar’’ and helping educate General Motors Co. mechanics.

Ah, the MILITARY-INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX in all its glory!

See: The Lesson of Avatar

U.S. still has not learned.

Those programs are part of the Technical Services unit that led Raytheon’s first-half sales increases even as Defense Secretary Robert Gates called for ending a “gusher’’ of military purchases.

See: Gatey Bar the Door

The 11 percent gain was almost three times as much as that of the division building Patriot missiles.

“In these difficult times, it’s nice to have a part of your business grow like that,’’ said chief executive Bill Swanson.

Things are NOT that difficult for Bill here:

Raytheon CEO Rewarded

Executive Payday: Raytheon Rewarded by Labor

Raytheon Rises as Economy Falls

I guess a $200 MILLION-DOLLAR PROFIT in one quarter is tough!

Swanson, 61, has pushed to diversify the fifth-largest US defense contractor as war costs and the federal deficit squeeze Pentagon outlays on arms. His aim is to grab a bigger chunk of an estimated $22 billion US military training budget and win contracts for that work in countries including Saudi Arabia....

More money wasted on the NEXT WAR!

Also see: The Boston Globe's Invisible Ink: Stealth Saudi Blip on Raytheon Radar

As if the Saudis thought that would protect them.

One day you will be USING THOSE WEAPONS against USrael!!

In 2007, a Raytheon-led team won a 10-year, $11.2 billion contract to train all combat-bound US Army soldiers.

Translation: The WARS will NEVER END, America.

The Warrior Training Alliance’s services range from facilities maintenance to leadership and cultural programming to live-fire exercises, according to Raytheon’s website.

That's MSM reporting, huh? Checking out a website?

In March, Raytheon reached an agreement with Motion Reality Inc., developer of the 3-D technology for the Hollywood blockbuster “Avatar,’’ to build mobile training simulators, said John Harris, president of the Technical Services unit.

The equipment will mimic the experience of being on a street in Afghanistan or Iraq....

We are NEVER LEAVING despite what the LYING OBAMA ADMINISTRATION is telling YOU, Americans!!

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Yup, that is where your JOBS are now, Americans:

"Raytheon Co. plans to build a missile production plant in Huntsville that will create 300 jobs in a city where Raytheon is already a major employer. The deal to build the plant at Redstone Arsenal was announced yesterday at Farnborough International Airshow in England.

Thank God for the WARS, huh, Americans?

--more--"

Who cares if you are being LOOTED by WAR-PROFITEERS over LIES, LIES, LIES!!!!!

"Contractors resist US disclosure effort; Database lists fraud and shoddy work" by Bryan Bender, Globe Staff | August 30, 2010

WASHINGTON — Defense companies and other major industries are hoping to block disclosure of their own fraudulent or substandard performance in federal contracts, despite a mandate this year by Congress that such potentially embarrassing information be released to the public.

Yeah, the LAW AIN'T for THEM!

Sensitive to concerns raised by the companies, the White House has delayed enacting the little-known disclosure provision while it studies the issue, officials said.

Why is it LITTLE-KNOWN, Globe!

Yup, IN SERVICE to the MILITARY MACHINE -- same as the LAST GUY!

Some f***ing change!

And YOU GUYS have the GALL to HARANGUE KARZAI in Afghanistan?

Oh, the STENCH of Amerikan HYPOCRISY!!!!

The controversy highlights the extent to which efforts to make the government more transparent often garner bipartisan support but then stall in the face of powerful interests seeking to limit public disclosure.

Yup, the TRANSPARENT PRESIDENT, all right!

Hey, WE CAN SEE RIGHT THROUGH HIM!

The White House, in a statement, acknowledged that “there will be legal and practical issues’’ that have to be addressed before the new law can be implemented....

At issue is a database that is currently kept secret....

But it is a TRANSPARENT SECRET!

The database was not intended to be made public.

Then WHAT WAS the POINT, Congress?

Un-f***ing-real!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Contractors complain that disclosing all that information could lead to the unfair use of damaging information by watchdog groups, the media, and their rivals....

In other words, the PUBLIC will be FURIOUS when they find out HOW MUCH MONEY has been STOLEN FROM THEM!!

See: Following Zakheim and Pentagon trillions to Israel and 9-11

Also watch these: The Real Story - Pre 9/11 History

You sure FORGOT about the TRILLIONS in UNACCOUNTED FOR MONEY after 9/11, huh?

Yeah, if you KNEW WHERE it was all going that would be the END of ISRAEL!

The disclosure requirement marks a major victory for government watchdog groups....

A HOLLOW NOTHING VICTORY, but a victory! How PATHETIC!

In March, before the measure was passed, Obama supported the concept....

And he FLIP-FLOPPED AGAIN, huh?

Another BROKEN F***ING PROMISE!

Within days of Obama signing the war funding bill, industry groups began urging the administration to exclude some information they contend could be damaging.

Yeah, WE KNOW he is controlled by the WAR MONGERS!!

For example, they fear that data on criminal or civil proceedings for contract violations or private agreements they reached to avoid being suspended for lack of performance could give their competitors an unfair advantage or spark public pressure to blacklist vendors that should otherwise be qualified bidders....

Yeah, we KNOW WHY they are WORRIED!

Others argue contractors should not have to reveal potentially self-incriminating information, such as explanations for alleged contract violations.

“Companies don’t have a Fifth Amendment right against self incrimination,’’ said John Chierichella, a contract attorney at the lobbying firm Sheppard, Mullin, Richter, & Hampton, which represents defense contractor General Dynamics and oil shipping conglomerate United Maritime Group, among other clients. He also said the government has multiple agencies responsible for investigating contractor fraud and abuse. “This is just the government asking contractors to do its job.’’

Time to CUT OFF ALL FUNDING, Congress!!

Alan Chvotkin, executive vice president of the Professional Services Council, a trade association that represents government contractors, believes the database will make “factoids available out of context’’ that could be unfairly used to bar a prospective bidder.

Other powerful industry voices opposed the creation of the database in the first place, including the National Defense Industrial Association, whose president told lawmakers this year that the information required for the database “appears to undermine the fundamental principles of due process.’’

Doesn't this WHINING and CRYING from WAR-LOOTERS make you SICK!!!

--more--"

Related: Racing to Raytheon

America's Lone Industry

Poisonous War Profiteers

Look, Up in the Sky!

Raytheon Roars

War Looter's Wednesday: Peering Into the Future

Also see: In competition, a message of peace

Pffft!

Just what I needed to quell the rage: a LYING, WAR-PROMOTING, AGENDA-PUSHING PoS paper talking about PEACE!

F*** YOU, Globe!

Veterans Getting a Piece of Iraq

Related: The Wars Will Make You Mad

And if that does not, this will:

"Insurer sued over military benefits; Soldiers’ parents question payouts" by Stephanie Reitz, Associated Press | August 31, 2010

The parents of six deceased US soldiers are suing Prudential Financial, saying it paid paltry interest on military life insurance benefits while keeping more generous interest earnings for itself....

Related: Checking Out Checkbook

Yeah, it is NOT JUST SOLDIERS, America!

Insurance companies are MAKING MONEY of ALL YOUR DEATHS!

It is STANDARD PRACTICE!

What a SHIT COUNTRY AmeriKa has turned out to be!!

A spokesman for the financial giant in Newark, N.J., said yesterday that while company officials cannot address the pending litigation, they strongly defend their handling of the money as responsible and deferential to the beneficiaries’ grief and needs.

Nothing like LYING RIGHT to your f***ing FACE, huh?

The debate centers on Prudential’s use of what it calls Alliance Accounts. The accounts are similar to checking accounts and come with a booklet of drafts....

Yeah, we KNOW WHAT THEY ARE and WHY they are U$ED!

Interest paid to beneficiaries who parked their money in Alliance Accounts in the last several years has ranged from 0.5 to 1.5 percent, according to the lawsuit.

But the plaintiffs say the checks are equivalent to an IOU, and that the money does not actually sit in those accounts as of the time of the soldier’s death.

They say Prudential holds the money in its $200 billion general account and earns 5 to 6 percent interest; moves it into an Alliance Account only when the beneficiary requests it; pays out at the lower interest rate; then keeps the difference....

That is called BEING DEFERENTIAL to the VICTIMS!

A similar claim against Prudential was thrown out of US District Court last year in New Jersey, where a beneficiary of a non-military life insurance policyholder challenged the Alliance Accounts and alleged Prudential was unjustly enriching itself.

Well, you SEE WHO the COURTS are WORKING FOR, Americans!

Plaintiffs in the current lawsuit are parents of soldiers who died in Iraq, Afghanistan, El Salvador, and after returning to the United States. They are from Massachusetts, California, Illinois, Maryland, and Texas.

Kevin Lucey of Belchertown, Mass., the lawsuit’s lead defendant with his wife, Joyce, said the grief of losing their son, Jeffrey, 23, in June 2004 was so raw that dealing with insurance was too overwhelming right away.

Oh, he lives just down the road!!

See: Surprise!: Boston Globe Discovers Anti-War Protests

How to Honor a Suicider

They transferred the policy’s proceeds to a bank nine months later, but Kevin Lucey said they remain angry and indignant over what they consider Prudential’s misrepresentations to themselves and other families.

Oh, what do you know, ANOTHER AmeriKan institution and industry that is a BALD-FACED F***ING LIAR!!!!

--more--"

Related: New York investigates veterans’ life insurers

Also see: Prudential assures on dividend as profits jump

Thanks for helping out, veteran families!

Also see: Boston man gives MIA bracelet to fallen soldier’s family

So WHEN are the WARS ever going to END, America?

HOW MUCH LONGER are you going to KEEP DYING for LIES and ISRAEL?

Visiting the VA

You might want to cancel the appointment, America:

"VA hospital warns of hygiene problem" by Associated Press | July 2, 2010

ST. LOUIS — Several members of Congress have demanded that a Veterans Administration Medical Center be investigated after it urged nearly 2,000 veterans to return for blood tests because inadequately sterilized equipment may have exposed them to viral infections during dental procedures....

And YOU WANT NATIONAL HEALTH CARE, America?

Related: VA Literally Sticks It Up Vets' Asses

Actually, you DID NOT -- and I CAN SEE WHY!

The VA said quality reviews determined that some sterilization steps involved in preparing dental instruments were not in compliance with standards, creating a low risk of infection of infections such as hepatitis C and HIV.

VA Medical Center spokeswoman Marcena Gunter said Wednesday that about 100 veterans had returned to the facility for testing, and that hundreds of others have contacted VA to make arrangements. She was not aware of any infections uncovered. Blood testing will screen for hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

Gunter said there was a delay in notifying the veterans of the possibility of exposure because officials were evaluating the risk.

Yeah, they REALLY CARE ABOUT YOU, troop!!

--more--"

Also see: The Wars Will Make You Mad

Maybe you are better off dying in war:

"Some want VA to take over at Arlington" by Washington Post | August 24, 2010

WASHINGTON — Veterans groups and members of Congress are questioning whether management of Arlington National Cemetery should be transferred from the Army to the Department of Veterans Affairs.

As if they would do a better job?

Have you been to one of their clinics?

The discussions come after investigators found dozens of unmarked or mislabeled graves, millions of dollars wasted on technology contracts, and mismanagement that stretched from the cemetery’s leadership to the upper echelons of Army leadership in the Pentagon....

Not like they could have used that money for vets health care or anything.

Related: A Trip Through Arlington

Why are we fighting these wars again?

Investigators looking into allegations of mismanagement at Arlington initially found more than 200 unmarked or mislabeled graves, as well as cases in which funeral urns had been dug up and dumped in a dirt pile. But the number of burial problems will probably grow, officials say, as they widen the probe....

So when you go to that grave you DON'T KNOW WHO is REALLY UNDER that STONE, do you?

--more--"

Better make some more plots ready:

"Report faults military’s suicide prevention" by Associated Press | August 25, 2010

WASHINGTON — Rushing to stem historically high rates of military suicides, the service branches set up prevention programs that lacked strategic planning and do not work as well as they could have, a report said yesterday.

The Pentagon should create a high-level office to set strategy and coordinate prevention programs across the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines, said a task force report Congress ordered last year.

More than 1,100 members of the armed forces killed themselves from 2005 to 2009, and the number of suicides is rising this year.

Related: Day of Service

Yeah, but it THEIR OWN FAULT because of their BAD BEHAVIOR!

The sharpest increases have been in the Army and Marines, the services most stretched by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan....

Nah, couldn't be that; newspaper and government told me so.

It's the RISKY BEHAVIOR of the TROOPS and all their OWN FAULT!

NONE of it could be the fact that AmeriKa is the 21st-century equivalent of the NAZIS!!

The report said that despite the extraordinary effort the services are making to deal with the crisis, the programs could benefit from reengineering because they have inefficiencies and gaps, in some cases overlap, or are not implemented evenly.

Yeah, the MILITARY is dong a GREAT JOB, yup!

Never mind the DEPLETED URANIUM POISONING that is NEVER MENTIONED in my PAPER!

Sent to Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, the report makes 76 recommendations.

I have one: END the DAMN WARS that have been BASED on LIES, Bob!!

--more--"

Related: VA to ease rules on posttraumatic stress

Hey, they have a PILL for that now:

"Drug prescribed for PTSD raises concerns" by Associated Press | August 30, 2010

WASHINGTON — Thousands of soldiers suffering from PTSD have been given a potent antipsychotic called Seroquel over the last nine years, helping to make it one of the US Department of Veteran Affair’s top drug expenditures and the No. 5 best-selling drug in the nation.

Yeah, and I hear it is a really great high:

"Seroquel.... another example of how many prescription drugs cross over into the illicit drug market.... sought on the street by former drug addicts or inmates who were first prescribed them.... even some schizophrenics loathe the drug, saying it makes them feel like a zombie"

That way you WON'T TALK, soldier!

Treating our SOLDIERS like PRISONERS, huh?

What's next, a STAY at GITMO!

So WHICH PHARMACEUTICAL i$ CLEANING UP, M$M?

Several soldiers and veterans have died while on the medication, raising concerns among some military families that the government is not being upfront about the drug’s risks.

They are JUST FIGURING THAT OUT NOW, huh?

They want Congress to investigate.

Pfffffft!

Yeah, let's WASTE MORE TIME and MONEY to put on a dog-and-pony show for the public as NOTHING CHANGES!

That is what CONGRESSIONAL INVESTIGATIONS are FOR!

Andrew White returned from a nine-month tour in Iraq beset with signs of post-traumatic stress disorder: insomnia, nightmares, constant restlessness. Doctors tried to ease his symptoms using three psychiatric drugs, including Seroquel.

His nightmares persisted. So doctors recommended progressively larger doses of Seroquel.

Yeah, KNOCK HIM INTO UNCONSCIOUS OBLIVION!!

That's how OUR ARMY SUPPORTS ITS TROOPS!!

At one point, the 23-year-old Army corporal was prescribed more than 1,600 milligrams per day — more than double the maximum dose recommended for schizophrenia patients.

A short time later, White died in his sleep.

In other words, the ARMY DOCTORS KILLED HIM!

An investigation by the Department of Veterans Affairs concluded that White died from a rare drug interaction. He was also taking an antidepressant and an anti-anxiety pill, as well as a painkiller for which he did not have a prescription.

Spending for Seroquel by the government’s military medical systems has increased more than sevenfold since the start of the war in Afghanistan in 2001, according to documents obtained by the Associated Press....

And WHO MADE the MONEY?

AstraZeneca, maker of the drug, said it is reviewing the study. The FDA is conducting its own review.

Oh, that makes me feel a lot better!

Also see: FDA Protects Big Pharma While Telling Americans "F*** You!"

FDA Approval to Immunize Drug Companies From Lawsuits

Yeah, GOOD THING the FDA is getting involved!

--more--"

So the DRUG MAKERS are MAKING BIG-TIME PROFITS of the WARS, huh?

Related: Boston Globe Flu Shot

Newton's New School

I hope the rip-off was worth it:

"$197m later, Newton North opens; State’s costliest public school roiled the community" by Erica Noonan, Globe Staff | August 31, 2010

NEWTON — It began as a simple renovation project. It ended up the most expensive public school ever built in Massachusetts....

It also remains to many a symbol of spending excess, pitting neighbor against neighbor in a wealthy community that had traditionally and unapologetically made schools its top fiscal priority....

Welcome to the DESTRUCTION of America!

--more--"

Related: Boston Globe Summer School: Geography Class

Hey, at least the schools look good!

WHO CARES about the DOPES in them!

It's ALL ABOUT IMAGE!

Boston Globe Delivery Room

Cut 'em open, Globe!

"Scientists expect C-section rate to keep rising" by Associated Press | August 31, 2010

WASHINGTON — More women will be giving birth by caesarean section for the foreseeable future, government scientists said yesterday, releasing a study into the causes of a trend that troubles maternal health experts....

The study also suggested a link between chemically induced labor and higher likelihood of a caesarean section. Women whose labor was induced were twice as likely to have a caesarean. The authors said more research is needed to clarify whether there’s a cause-and-effect relationship.

Many medical experts consider caesarean deliveries to be a major component of “overtreatment’’ in the United States.

But the trend does not appear likely to reverse....

The study found a variety of reasons....

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Related: Study links poverty, mother’s depression

Economy seen as factor in US birth rate decline

Boston Globe Flu Shot

You can take it with your morning coffee, Americans.

"US urges nearly all to get flu shots; Combination vaccine being offered this year" by Lauran Neergaard, Associated Press | August 31, 2010

WASHINGTON — It’s flu-shot season already, and for the first time health authorities are urging nearly everyone to get vaccinated. There is even a new high-dose version for people 65 or older....

Does this mean anything to you?

Related: Estimates of US flu hazard were inflated, CDC finds

But believe the government when it tells you to get a shot!

This year, a record vaccine supply is expected — an all-in-one inoculation that now promises protection against that swine flu strain plus two other kinds of influenza.

Related: A $7 Billion Dollar Shot in the Arm

That is why you need to be propagandizes by the agenda-pushing paper and government, Americans.

They WORK for THEM, not you!

This is about BIG PHARMA'S CORPORATE PROFITS HEALTH, not yours!

Related: Six Months to Go Until The Largest Tax Hikes in History

And just wait until the health plan you didn't want kicks in!

Shipments began so early that drugstores are offering vaccinations amid their back-to-school sales.

I don't want that in my kid's backpack, do you?

But without last year’s scare factor, the question is how many people will heed the new policy for near-universal vaccination....

Oh, the AGENDA-PUSHERS need a SCARE FACTOR, huh?

For the NEW POLICY of UNIVERSAL VACCINATION?

Yup, they REALLY WANT to get that NEEDLE in YOU! All for YOUR OWN GOOD, Americans!

That is why YOU NEED TO BE LIED TO by this government and its mouthpiece MSM.

--more--"

Related: Appeals court rejects vaccine-autism link

Like I'm going to believe something some lying corporate court has to say?

See: The great thimerosal cover-up: Mercury, vaccines, autism and your child's health

Yeah, the last thing I'm believing is a government mouthpiece we call a newspaper here.

Related: Vaccinations proposed for chickens

Also see: Boston Globe Omelet

I never eat eggs, and never will again -- just as I will never eat seafood, cow, or chicken.

That explains the funny taste all these years.

Related: AmeriKan Breakfast

No wonder the Globe always leaves me sick and sour.

Earl on the Way

Also see: Here Comes Hurricane Earl

"Vacations, weddings in doubt as storm nears" by Milton J. Valencia and L. Finch, Globe Staff | Globe Correspondent | September 2, 2010

It has created a holding pattern for the betrothed and wedding planners, boaters, vacationers, and business owners. It has become a spoiler for what would have otherwise been a pleasurable Labor Day weekend, the official end of summer, with the forecast predicting sunny skies from late Saturday through Monday....

Aside from the pounding that will occur within an eight-hour time frame late Friday night, the storm has already had secondary effects on travel, business, and everyday life....

--more--"

Maybe you would like to BET on the hurricane, Americans:

"Betting on how a hurricane blows; New investment would let small-time traders hedge risk" by D.C. Denison, Globe Staff | August 27, 2010

For the past week, many in New England and along the Eastern Seaboard have been watching as Hurricane Danielle churned slowly northward in the Atlantic. As soon as next year, some of these watchers could be putting money down on their predictions of where a hurricane like Danielle will make landfall.

The financial product they could use is the Hurricane Risk Landfall Option, or Hurlo, which was created by Ken Horowitz, who made his fortune as a cofounder of Celluar One, one of the first mobile telephone networks — later known to Boston-area customers as Cingular Wireless.

Need I even type it?

Horowitz came up with the Hurlo idea in 2004, after his Palm Beach house was hit by two hurricanes in a single year. Since that time, he has been working to create an instrument for homeowners and small business owners in hurricane-vulnerable coastal regions like New England, the East Coast, and the Gulf of Mexico. People can buy “options’’ that are tied to these regions. When a hurricane hits, the money is divided among those who correctly picked its landfall location — not unlike a sports betting pool....

Un-f***ing-real!

--more--"

Related: Weather steams up students’ moving day

Making Sense of the Media Cover-Up of 9-11

"Making Sense of the Media Cover-Up of 9-11

August 25, 2010

"The theory of the free press is not that the truth will be presented completely or perfectly in any one instance, but that the truth will emerge from free discussion." - Walter Lippman, American editor and writer, 1889-1974

On 9-11, President George W. Bush said "America was targeted for attack because we're the brightest beacon for freedom and opportunity in the world." Minutes after the demolitions of the Twin Towers, Ehud Barak, the former Israeli prime minister, told the world on BBC World television that Osama Bin Laden was behind the attacks and that the United States should invade Afghanistan. This was, after all, the real plan behind the false-flag attacks.

Anyone who has looked at the events of 9-11 knows there are basically two competing histories. First, there is the official version, presented by President George W. Bush in a speech given shortly after the attacks and bolstered by the appointed 9-11 commission, that Muslim terrorists were responsible for the death and destruction. This version has since been adopted and supported by the Obama administration and virtually every member of Congress.

The second version is fundamentally opposed to the official version in that it claims that the terror attacks were a sophisticated "false flag" operation carried out by Israelis with the assistance of highly-placed Zionist agents inside the U.S. government. This version posits that the Israeli plan was for the attacks to be blamed on Al Qaida in order to usher in the Zionist-designed "War on Terror" with its pre-planned invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq.

While the official version is the only one discussed in the mainstream media, various strands of the unofficial version are found primarily on the Internet. As any serious student of 9-11 knows, the mainstream media ignores a whole host of legitimate questions, facts, and evidence about the attacks that would be reported and examined by the media if it were free to do so.

Americans are raised with the cherished belief that the United States has a free and unfettered press in which important matters are freely discussed. Yet, if the United States truly has a free press, how do we explain the conspicuous failure of the mainstream media, over a period of nine years, to discuss the crucial facts and discoveries about 9-11? If we believe that the press in America is free, how can we make sense of the media's blatant cover-up?

For nine years, in lockstep with the government, the mass media has followed a strategy of concealment of the facts and evidence that contradict the official version. The media cover-up is meant to protect and bolster the official version of the terror atrocity by preventing the general public from being aware of the facts. By censoring any serious discussion of the evidence, the mass media has protected the criminal scheme and those who carried out the terror atrocity of our time.

IS THE PRESS FREE?

"Paramount among the responsibilities of a free press is the duty to prevent any part of the government from deceiving the people and sending them off to distant lands to die of foreign fevers and foreign shot and shell." - Hugo Black, American jurist and politician, 1886-1971

To grasp what is meant by the term "media cover-up", let's start with a simple question: Are the reporters and writers in the mainstream media free to discuss the pertinent facts and evidence of 9-11, or is this discussion being controlled and censored by a hidden hand? By "mainstream media" I simply mean the large national networks of print, television, and radio news outlets. These are the well known commercial and "public" media networks that inform and entertain Americans on a daily basis. For many Americans these mass media outlets actually define their reality. For these people, a subject is not considered "real" until it has been discussed and approved by the talking heads on the news programs they consume.

Although 9-11 ranks as one of the most outrageous criminal atrocities of all time, there is a long list of unanswered questions that the mainstream media avoids. As an independent journalist, I have covered many 9-11 events and discoveries that have been completely ignored by the mainstream media. The media's refusal to cover significant 9-11 events has often been the subject of my articles, e.g. "Mass Media Avoids Questions about 9-11" (2002) and "How the Controlled Press Avoids 9-11 Truth" (2005).

IGNORING THE FACTS

"A nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people." - John F. Kennedy, U.S. President, 1961-1963

In March 2009, Professor Steven E. Jones of Brigham Young University published photographic evidence of an extremely explosive compound of super-thermite, which he discovered in large amounts in the dust of the pulverized Twin Towers. The chips of super-thermite were fragments of a bi-layered coating, made using nanotechnology and applied to the interior surfaces of the Twin Towers.

The chips of the extremely energetic coating of super-thermite found in the dust of the pulverized World Trade Center are evidence that very advanced explosives were used to demolish the Twin Towers. The large amount of this nano-composite of thermite in the dust indicates that tens of tons of this material had been applied to the interior surfaces of the World Trade Center. This discovery marked the end of the government version as an acceptable explanation for the collapses. Why has the mass media avoided this crucial discovery? Who are they protecting?

While this discovery explains the pulverization of the 220 concrete floors and the steel pans that held them, it also exposes the falseness of the government claim that burning jet fuel caused the towers to collapse. Like the many unanswered questions about the demolition of the three towers of the World Trade Center, Jones' crucial discovery has been completely avoided by both the government and the media. How can such an important discovery be ignored by the government and media in a free and open society?

If the editors and journalists employed by the thousands of newspapers, magazines, television and radio stations across the United States were truly free to discuss the relevant facts and evidence of 9-11, how could it be that not a single national news outlet has covered Dr. Jones' published discovery of super-thermite after two years?

SECRET ISRAELI VISIT

"The press is the hired agent of a monied system, and set up for no other purpose than to tell lies where their interests are involved. One can trust nobody and nothing." - Henry B. Adams (1838-1918), President of the American Historical Association

Ehud Olmert, the Israeli mayor of Jerusalem, was in New York City on the very eve of 9-11 and was probably in the city during the attacks, something I discovered several years ago. As the mayor of New York's sister city, Olmert (from the hard-line Likud, the party founded by Zionist terrorists) later made a high-profile sympathy visit to New York City about 10 days after the attacks, yet the Jewish-owned newspapers and tabloids of New York City completely ignored Olmert's visit to their city the day before the attacks, something they and Mayor Rudy Giuliani certainly must have known about. How can this be? Why would the visit by a high-level Israeli politician to New York on the eve of 9-11 be kept out of the press – especially after the fact?

Ehud Olmert resurfaced in New York City on September 21, 2001, when tens of thousands were thought to have been killed. Why has the U.S. media failed to report that Olmert was in New York City on September 10 - the day before the attacks? The media silence makes no sense unless his visit was connected to the false-flag terror attacks. Was Olmert on the El Al flight that left New York City on the afternoon of 9-11? (Photo - LIFE)

If the press in the United States were truly free, it would mean that thousands of news editors from each and every media outlet have consistently made the same decision that important 9-11 discoveries, events, and facts were not to be discussed in their newspaper, magazine, television or radio network. Because this is not possible, it must be that a hidden hand dictates what is reported about 9-11 in the mainstream media.

THE NATURE OF THE HIDDEN HAND

"The individual is handicapped by coming face to face with a conspiracy so monstrous he cannot believe it exists." - J. Edgar Hoover, First Director of the FBI, 1935–1972

Having concluded that the mass media in the United States is controlled, we should ask who controls it, and how. Considering the air-tight media cover-up of 9-11, what can we discern about the nature of the hidden hand controlling the media? Using Socratic dialectic we can ask questions and use logic to identify the nature of the power controlling the media.

Our first question would be: Is the control mechanism external or internal? Has an outside force, such as the government, imposed itself upon the media in order to stifle coverage of 9-11, or is the media controlled from within? While governments certainly do suppress and censor media coverage, it is highly unlikely that the U.S. government is behind the media censorship of 9-11. Any government edict of that sort would have been discovered and exposed during the past nine years. Therefore, we can conclude that the control mechanism must be internal and intrinsic to the ownership of the media.

Having concluded that the controlling hand is intrinsic to the ownership of the media, we need to determine if the various owners of the major media networks are independent of each other or are they somehow united in a conspiracy to cover-up the truth of 9-11 and deceive the public? Judging from the 9-11 cover-up, which has been complete and universal throughout the mass media for nine years, we can see that the owners are united in purpose and working in concert. That is to say that the owners of the commercial media networks and directors of the public broadcasting system are all working under the same hidden hand. There is no dissent. The controlling power is pervasive throughout the media sphere of the United States, Britain, Canada, Australia, and Europe. Given today's consolidation of the global media, one individual such as Rupert Murdoch of News Corporation may own hundreds of newspapers, magazines, and television stations around the world. But Rupert Murdoch must be controlled by the same hidden hand as the owners of Time Warner (CNN), CBS Corporation, and the other media networks.

Sumner Redstone (born Rothstein) is majority owner of CBS Corporation, Viacom, MTV Networks, BET, Paramount Pictures, and DreamWorks movie studios. Leslie Moonves, a former used car dealer, is president and CEO of CBS Corporation. Moonves also happens to be the great-nephew of David Ben-Gurion, the Zionist leader of the Haganah who became the first Prime Minister of Israel. Whatever organization Redstone, Moonves, Murdoch, and the other media owners belong to and from whom they evidently take their marching orders, it must be a very secretive cabal.

The U.S. media mogul Sumner Redstone is a devoted supporter of Israel and Zionist causes. Here he poses with Arnon Milchan (left), Mossad's veteran agent in Hollywood, at his gala event to mark the 60th anniversary of the Zionist state, "From Vision to Reality", held at Paramount Studios on September 18, 2008. (Photo - LIFE)

What else can we tell about the secret organization that the owners of the media belong to? One of the most conspicuous and peculiar characteristics of the U.S. media is its unquestioning support of Zionism and the state of Israel. Although Israel is a tiny state, about the same size as Slovenia or Albania, it is always discussed in the U.S. mass media, but its overtly racist policies and blatant war crimes are never criticized. The mainstream media in the United States is actually more supportive of the hard-line Zionist policies of Israel's Likud extremists than the Israeli press, which indicates that the secret organization behind the media must be extremely Zionist and pro-Israel by ideology.

As explained in my book, Solving 9-11 – The Deception that Changed the World, there is a great deal of evidence of Israeli and Zionist involvement in the "false flag" terror attacks of 9-11 – and the criminal destruction of evidence and cover-up that followed. Having concluded that the owners of the mass media networks are bound together in a secret Zionist organization, we can now understand how it is that they are in complete agreement in their refusal to cover or publish anything that would question the official version and shed light on the evidence of Zionist involvement in the terror atrocity that killed thousands of Americans on 9-11. This is evidently what the elders of their secret organization have ordered and what they must do.

Is there a secret international Zionist brotherhood of prominent Jewish men? Actually there are several....

--MORE--"

Winter Weather Forecast

Who are you going to believe?

The guys who get it right year after year or some lying government mouthpiece known as the MSM?

FLASHBACKS:

"The almanac's winter forecast is at odds with that of the National Weather Service, whose trends-based outlook calls for warmer-than-normal temperatures over much of the country.... the almanac was on target in the 2008 edition when it called for the Northeast and the Great Lakes to be hit with a long, cold winter with lots of snow."

"The Old Farmer's Almanac, based in Dublin, N.H., predicted "global cooling" for the next two decades. The forecast was based on an expected change in sunspots and ocean temperatures, still better-understood factors than climate change, said the almanac's editor, Janice Stillman."We're looking forward to cooler-than-normal conditions for quite some time," Stillman said in a telephone interview."

"Farmers’ Almanac foresees tough winter

Americans may want to check on their sweaters and snow shovels - the Farmers’ Almanac is predicting a cold winter. The 2010 edition of the venerable almanac goes on sale today. It predicts numbing cold from the Rocky Mountains to the Appalachians. Managing editor Sandi Duncan says that nationwide, the season will be an “ice cold sandwich,’’ with milder weather on the coasts. The Maine-based almanac issues forecasts based on sunspots, planetary positions, and the effects of the moon. The National Weather Service is calling for a warmer-than-normal winter because of an El Niño weather system that has developed in the Pacific Ocean (AP)."

And WHAT does the RECORD SAY?

What is sad is my LOCAL picked up the WHOLE PIECE and LOOKEE at what the Glob missed:

"The 2009 edition accurately predicted last winter's cold conditions and the extreme rains that the Northeast got in June and July....

I'm NO LONGER SURPRISED by Boston Globe omissions.

Heck, I EXPECT THEM now!

--more--"

Related:

"Hot weather has Mass. farms booming; A welcome rebound from cold, wet 2009" by David Abel, Globe Staff | August 18, 2010

At the Plainville Farm in Hadley, the pumpkins are bulging, nearly ripe about a month ahead of normal. The Red Fire Farm in Granby has had a bumper crop of melons, most ready for picking at least two weeks before usual. In Brookline, the Allandale Farm has had trouble keeping up with a growth spurt of tomatoes.

A year after a cold, wet summer caused massive and expensive agricultural losses — and prompted federal officials to declare most of Massachusetts a disaster zone — the state’s nearly 8,000 farms are experiencing a boom, with exactly the opposite weather conditions of last year....

Related: The History of Global Cooling

But not all crops have flourished....

I'm sorry, readers, but I can not read any more of that agenda-pushing crap.

--more--"

And this year?

"Winter forecast will not warm hearts in New England; But almanac sees reprieve for many in US" by David Sharp, Associated Press | August 30, 2010

LEWISTON, Maine — After record snowfall in the mid-Atlantic and unusually cold weather down South, the Farmers’ Almanac is predicting a “kinder and gentler’’ winter. But the publication’s secret mathematical formula does not predict a more bearable season for New Englanders.

It will still be colder than normal for much of the country, the almanac says, including the area that is home to the publication.

New England will get a “cold slap in the face’’ after missing last winter’s misery. Residents of the upper Midwest and Great Lakes are expected to get the piles of snow that may be lacking elsewhere.

After eyeing the skies, tidal action, and sunspots, the folks at the 194-year-old publication say in their 2011 edition going on sale today that it will be cold but nothing like last winter, when 49 states saw snow and it got so cold in Florida that iguanas fell out of trees....

Really?

The MSM thinks you have forgotten, readers!!

Related: April Fools Day

Yup, BELIEVE IT or NOT it was the FIFTH-WARMEST WINTER on RECORD!

They TRULY THINK we are FOOLS!

Iceberg Right Ahead

Are you TIRED of the MSM LIES yet?!!

Ed O’Lenic from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Prediction Center said the scientific community does not accept tides, planetary alignment, and sunspots as effective predictors of temperature or precipitation, but he stopped short of calling the almanac’s meteorological methods a bunch of hooey.

“In science you have to have an open mind,’’ O’Lenic, chief of the operations branch, said of the almanac’s methodology. “Someday, someone could conceivably find some scintilla of evidence that it’s useful.

Tell that to your HIDE the DECLINE fellows at the IPCC and CPU!!!!

And maybe SOMEDAY SOMEONE will find a USE for LYING, LOOTING GOVERNMENTS (although I doubt it)!!

“For the time being, we have to stick with what produces results for us.’’

Even if they are a CROCK of LIES!!

Related: Climategate: NOAA and NASA Complicit in Data Manipulation

Looks like you better BUY an ALMANAC this year, NOAA -- seeing as you are WRONG year after year!!!

What a CROWD of -- forgive me, readers -- FUCKING LIARS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

For the record, the Climate Prediction Center anticipates a warmer-than-normal winter for the mid-Atlantic and Southeast and colder-than-normal weather in the Northwest. That puts it at odds with the almanac, which calls for mild temperatures in the Northwest and cold in the Southeast.

Well, PAST HISTORY WOULD SUGGEST the ALMANAC is RIGHT and the GOVERNMENT is LYING AGAIN!!!

The Maine-based Farmers’ Almanac is not to be confused with the New Hampshire-based Old Farmer’s Almanac. Both issue annual forecasts, with The Old Farmer’s Almanac scheduled for release Sept. 7....

I can not imagine that the forecasts will be much different, Globe.

You are hoping though, aren't you?

The old-school almanac is big on nostalgia, but is not shy about using technology.

Yeah, hurl ANOTHER INSULT at them, Globe.

Who wrote this PoS anyway?

And as far as nostalgia goes, maybe we could STOP SEEING so many NAZI STORIES in the NEWSPAPER, huh?

Its website gets more than 4 million visitors a year....

But their methods of predicting.... right, but in the dark ages (as opposed to the ENLIGHTENED LIARS of the U.S. GOVERNMENT and MSM)!

--more--"

You know, I WISH the GOVERNMENT WASN'T LYING because I AM SICK of SHOVELING SNOW in the FREEZING COLD every year.

Related:

"The early colors result from a lack of moisture to help them stay green. Shorter days in fall and cold nights also facilitate the loss of green pigment, chlorophyll, helping to bring out yellow and red. Warm, sunny days with no extended periods of rain is probably the reason some colors are peeking through.

Probably?

Pfffffft!

--more--"

Leaves are falling of the trees SOONER, huh?

Pfffffffftt!

Time for ME to let the PoS BOSTON GLOBE fall to the FLOOR!

Here Comes Hurricane Earl

That time of year, right?

"Hurricane Earl intensifies as it churns east; Airports close, ships shift course as storm closes in" by David McFadden, Associated Press | August 30, 2010

SAN JUAN — Islanders set up emergency shelters and airlines canceled flights as newly born Hurricane Earl churned toward the northern Caribbean yesterday. Cruise lines diverted ships to avoid the storm’s path....

Steady bands of rain began lashing islands including Antigua, where the Grand Pineapple Beach Resort on the north side battened down early for the night and tourists sought shelter inside their rooms.

Winds were heavy but had not caused any major damage, and the surf was higher than normal but not punishing, general manager Courtney Miller said by phone.

Center forecasters said Earl could strengthen into a major hurricane as soon as today, probably while east of Puerto Rico....

People on several islands stuffed shopping carts with bottled water, canned food, milk, candles, and batteries, while some tourists scrambled to board flights home. Others enjoyed the beach while they could.

“I’m just trying get a good suntan in while the weather is still cooperating,’’ said Linda Curren of New York City, sunbathing on San Juan’s Ocean Park beach as a few surfers paddled into pounding waves....

Earl could bring battering waves and a storm surge of up to 3 feet above normal tide levels in some areas, according to forecasters. Heavy rains could cause flash floods and mudslides.

Forecasters said Earl had several bands of thunderstorms wrapped around its center. Hurricane-force winds extended outward up to 45 miles from its center. Warm ocean temperatures are helping to fuel the storm.

Forecasters said there is a chance the hurricane could brush the mid-Atlantic region of the United States toward the end of the week, with its closest approach to North Carolina on Thursday. In any case, the East Coast will probably see pounding surf.

Meanwhile, Hurricane Danielle, which brought dangerous rip currents to the East Coast, was gradually weakening as it headed over the open Atlantic northeast of Bermuda.

--more--"

"Hurricane Earl intensifies, threatens East Coast of US; Caribbean may have been spared major damage" by Mike Melia, Associated Press | August 31, 2010

SAN JUAN — Hurricane Earl battered tiny islands across the northeastern Caribbean with heavy rain and roof-ripping winds yesterday, rapidly intensifying into a major Category 4 storm on a path projected to menace the United States.

Already dangerous with sustained winds of 135 miles per hour, Earl is expected to gain more strength before potentially brushing the East Coast this week and bringing deadly rip currents.

The National Hurricane Center in Miami warned coastal residents from North Carolina to Maine to watch the storm closely....

The Hurricane Center said it is too early to say what effect Earl would have on the United States, but warned it could at least kick up rip currents. A surfer died in Florida and a Maryland swimmer has been missing since Saturday in waves spawned by Hurricane Danielle, which weakened to a tropical storm yesterday far out in the Atlantic....

--more--"

Related: State warned to be on watch when Earl makes turn north

When it gets here I'll worry.